Four years ago, a video of Sarah Palin being anointed by a witch-hunting pastor helped put the spotlight on Republican vice-presidential candidate's evangelical beliefs.

This year, in terms of Christianity, the focus in the race so far has been on the fiercely conservative beliefs of Republican contender Rick Santorum. Voters on the Christian right, put off by Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney's Mormon beliefs and perceived socially liberal politics, have rallied behind the Catholic from Pennsylvania.

Santorum's success is emblematic of Republican polarisation, with the party's more liberal supporters looking on in dismay as he has voiced his views on social issues. Now, a video has emerged that will further horrify that wing of the party, and perhaps persuade any remaining undecided voters to fall in line behind Romney.

Attending a service at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church in Louisiana, Santorum can be seen applauding enthusiastically as the pastor, Dennis Terry, delivers a fire-and-brimstone sermon declaring that America is a Christian country, and anyone who doesn't agree ought to leave:

“Listen to me. If you don’t love America, and you don’t like the way we do things, I’ve got one thing to say, get out! We don’t worship Buddha, we don’t worship Mohammed, we don’t worship Allah. We worship God. We worship God’s son Jesus Christ.”

He also throws in some lines condemning abortion rights and the American people's sexual immorality:

“As long as they continue to kill little babies in our mother’s womb, somebody’s got to take a stand and say it’s not right. God be merciful to us as a nation. As long as sexual perversion is becoming normalised, somebody needs to stand up and say God forgive us, God have mercy upon us.”

Santorum, however, has denied that he approved of the pastor's remarks about non-Christians, claiming that he wasn't paying full attention to the sermon's contents:

“I didn’t clap when he said that. I do remember him saying that, I said, well, I wasn’t quite sure he was saying it for himself, I wasn’t quite listening to everything to be honest with you. But I wasn’t sure whether he was speaking for himself or speaking generally, but I didn’t clap when he said that because it’s not how I feel.”

Rick Santorum looks on approvingly as evangelical pastor calls on non-Christians to get out of America

Rick Santorum

Four years ago, a video of Sarah Palin being anointed by a witch-hunting pastor helped put the spotlight on Republican vice-presidential candidate's evangelical beliefs.

This year, in terms of Christianity, the focus in the race so far has been on the fiercely conservative beliefs of Republican contender Rick Santorum. Voters on the Christian right, put off by Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney's Mormon beliefs and perceived socially liberal politics, have rallied behind the Catholic from Pennsylvania.

Santorum's success is emblematic of Republican polarisation, with the party's more liberal supporters looking on in dismay as he has voiced his views on social issues. Now, a video has emerged that will further horrify that wing of the party, and perhaps persuade any remaining undecided voters to fall in line behind Romney.

Attending a service at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church in Louisiana, Santorum can be seen applauding enthusiastically as the pastor, Dennis Terry, delivers a fire-and-brimstone sermon declaring that America is a Christian country, and anyone who doesn't agree ought to leave:

“Listen to me. If you don’t love America, and you don’t like the way we do things, I’ve got one thing to say, get out! We don’t worship Buddha, we don’t worship Mohammed, we don’t worship Allah. We worship God. We worship God’s son Jesus Christ.”

He also throws in some lines condemning abortion rights and the American people's sexual immorality:

“As long as they continue to kill little babies in our mother’s womb, somebody’s got to take a stand and say it’s not right. God be merciful to us as a nation. As long as sexual perversion is becoming normalised, somebody needs to stand up and say God forgive us, God have mercy upon us.”

Santorum, however, has denied that he approved of the pastor's remarks about non-Christians, claiming that he wasn't paying full attention to the sermon's contents:

“I didn’t clap when he said that. I do remember him saying that, I said, well, I wasn’t quite sure he was saying it for himself, I wasn’t quite listening to everything to be honest with you. But I wasn’t sure whether he was speaking for himself or speaking generally, but I didn’t clap when he said that because it’s not how I feel.”